It’s an injury the Flyers coaches and the brass keep shrugging off, but backup goalie Ray Emery missed practice again Friday and did not travel with the team to Toronto.

Phantoms goalie Cal Heeter will back up Steve Mason for a fourth straight game when the Flyers take on the Maple Leafs Saturday at Air Canada Centre.

While it’s believed Emery, who is officially listed with a lower body injury, is still just dealing with a muscle pull in the groin area or leg, it’s now anybody’s guess whether the injury is more serious than what the Flyers were letting on. There is no other update on Emery’s condition other than the old, “lower-body injury; day-to-day” kind that separates the NHL from mature big-league policies on reporting injuries.

Coach Craig Berube said he has no concerns about Mason wearing down, even if he’s started all four post-Olympic break games, including a first one Feb. 27 in which he was removed early. Emery promptly came in and aggravated the injury that night.

Advertisement

At first Emery appeared to be ready to go after only a day or two of rest, but ultimately decided not to, and now he hasn’t practiced for the past few days.

Berube said the Flyers are fortunate that Mason has had and will have time to rest — two off days before taking the net Saturday night in Toronto, then only two more game dates (Wednesday and next Saturday) over the following week.

It stands to reason they’d expect Emery to be back by then, but then again, when asked if he thought the Flyers might need to see the 25-year-old Heeter — a free agent out of Ohio State with parts of two seasons (67 games) on his AHL resume — get into a game, Berube said, “It depends. We’ll see.

“I think you’re always thinking in general watching him out here a little bit more close to see what it looks like and everything,” Berube said. “If we have to use him, well use him. We’re confident in him.”

Berube described Heeter as a goalie who “moves really well; an active, athletic goalie. He’s got some good skills and he’s big.”

All well and good. What Heeter doesn’t have is much experience dealing with a playoff stretch drive either in the minors or the big league.

“It’d be nice if I got a chance to get into a game, but I understand the position they are in right now,” Heeter told reporters Thursday at the Skate Zone. “They’re trying to maintain their position in the playoffs right now. That might be more important than developing someone for the future.

“I might not get a chance to play but if I do, I’ll be ready.”

l l l

The Flyers’ two best scorers are going to be spend some time Sunday trying to do just that ... against the Harlem Globetrotters.

In something that smells like it was drummed up by the Wells Fargo Center sales department (no idea if that’s true, but...), Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds are scheduled to play basketball for a team called the World All-Stars.

But we’ll just call them the Washington Generals, since this Worldly team is playing the Globetrotters.

Simmonds and Giroux are two of the more enthusiastic Flyers who shoot hoops in the ground floor concourse prior to home games. Simmonds also played the sport in high school while growing up outside of Toronto.

“I don’t know if I’ve got the skill, but I’m going to try,” Simmonds said. “Some of those things they do with the ball is unbelievable. It would be nice to play with them, that’s for sure.”

Instead, they’ll be playing against them, which Simmonds figures is going to make these two brave ice guys look “probably pretty stupid,” he said.

“I’ve just got to get the ball and go strong to the hoop and dunk on someone,” Simmonds said. “That’s my goal. ... I can dunk. I’m going to put my Jordans on. I’ve got hops.”

Yeah, that’s probably a lot of hot Air.

Anyway, for a semi-serious take on this breaking news story, Giroux had to contemplate the real question of whether tooling around on hardwood is too much of a risk of injury for a couple of multi-million dollar hockey players.

“We’re just playing a couple of minutes,” Giroux said, “but I do get hurt in weird ways, so I’ve got to be careful.”

One word on Giroux injuries: “Fore!”

l l l

NOTES: After Saturday’s game in Toronto, the Flyers play New Jersey at home Wednesday night, then host Pittsburgh the following Saturday. But that Penguins game represents the first of what promises to be an exhaustive 17 games in 29 days stretch through to the end of the regular season. “We’ve got a few days (to rest) between games here, and you are trying to take advantage a little bit,” Luke Schenn said, “but it’s going to ramp up pretty quick. We’re going to play pretty much every day or every other day for the rest of the season.” ... Craig Berube on Simmonds and Giroux playing against the Globetrotters: “I don’t know anything about it. ... Better tape their ankles up, huh?”